A few years after The Phantom of the Opera debuted in London, Harold Prince unveiled Andrew Lloyd Webber's gothic musical in Canada, in 1989. It was so good that this recording of highlights from the Canadian cast is--dare we say it?--more enjoyable than the equivalent London cast highlights album. No, it doesn't have the authenticity of London principals Sarah Brightman (for whom then-husband Lloyd Webber wrote the role of Christine) and Michael Crawford, but it doesn't have their idiosyncrasies, either, and it does have the richer voices of Colm Wilkinson and Rebecca Caine (who played Jean Valjean and older Cosette, respectively, in the 1985 London cast of Les Misérables). At 69 minutes, the Canadian album is also 10 minutes longer than the London, allowing inclusion of the prologue and dress rehearsal for Hannibal. Of course, Lloyd Webber's melodies--"Angel of Music," "The Music of the Night," "All I Ask of You," "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again"--are scrumptious on any continent. --David Horiuchi No Description Available.Genre: Original Cast RecordingsMedia Format: Compact DiskRating: Release Date: 26-NOV-2002

I had owned the London cast recording of Phantom for some 7 years before I bought this one, and it is very hard to say which one is better. As with all different cast recordings of musicals, both have their strong and weak points.

I'm a Sarah Brightman fan(atic), but I owe it all to the original cast recording. My love for Sarah began with the Phantom of the Opera, which I first listened to as a child. Now an adult more than a decade later, I'm still not tired of those songs.I'll assume that if you're interested in this recording, you're already familiar with the songs and are interested in knowing how this holds up to the OLC (original London cast) recording and/or the new movie soundtrack.Rebecca Caine is a terrific Christine. I..

I would've given this five stars, but a few songs are omitted. Other than that, though, it's absolutely excellent. Colm Wilkinson plays a terrific Phantom--worlds better than Michael Crawford could ever be. His voice positively soars, and "Music of the Night" is truly breathtaking.For this Canadian version of Phantom, the role of Christine is played by the incredibly talented Rebecca Caine. Unlike Sarah Brightman, she is able to control her voice to the point that her vibrato isn't annoying. "Wishing You We..